A Complete Crush
by loboscuro
Summary: Completed! Picks up directly after Burning Questions, episode 15, and Daniel's thoughts that he could have had. Potentially Daniel/Betty. Reviews are...loved...
1. But nooot like that

**A complete _crush_.**

_A/N: I wanted to write a Daniel/Betty fic, but wasn't sure where to start; eventually I picked the end of episode 15, burning questions. I realise this has already been done, but again I wanted to write what I saw could maybe happen._

Daniel watched as the two of them outside his office, each looking so loving and eager. Why couldn't _he_ have that? Then Betty leaned up to kiss Henry, and he found he couldn't watch any longer. There was a bitter wrenching down in his gut, an echo of that he had experienced just minutes earlier.

Yes, just minutes earlier, when Betty had been making fun of him. He knew it ought to be funny; perhaps it _was_ ridiculous? But how - why - he tried his best to be good. Oh God, that made him sound like a little child. But it was true, he was doing his best to be responsible; why was it so utterly ridiculous that Betty could have a crush on him? Perhaps he hadn't improved at all and was still that shallow playboy of yesteryear.

And seriously. Even Amanda thought Betty was too good for him. Well at least it seemed like that, the way she said it, something like: s_he has a crush on **you**? _True, Amanda had accepted it later but there had been complete scepticism.

Maybe Daniel just wasn't good enough. He would never be good enough; he was always disappointing the people he cared most about. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't Betty be even the slightest bit impressed by looks? Didn't she _notice _his eyes, which were totally captivating, though he said so himself?

Okay, now he felt like a vain, pathetic jerk.

Henry and Betty finally broke apart, and Betty flashed her boyfriend a brilliant smile before he walked away, in that peculiar gait of his. Kind of stiff and awkward, Daniel thought. How could Betty fall for that scrawny accountant, with his still-armed waves and straight-necked kisses? Why, Daniel could -  
Daniel shook his head, slightly dazed. Why the hell was he comparing himself to Henry? That wouldn't get him Renee back. It wouldn't get him someone like Renee. It wouldn't get him B-

It wouldn't get him Bett- better. Yes, that's what he was about to think.

* * *

There was no denying it, was there. Even to himself. Sometimes Daniel hated his brain.

He had a frickin crush on his assistant, who he had arrogantly assumed had a crush on him.

Well, now that he was out with the denying, he could think properly about how he'd felt when Renee said _Isn't it obvious? Your assistant is totally in love with you_. Some strange pang, but he couldn't remember all the mixed up feelings in that big whopper of a feeling. There was _one_ emotion he could recall though, the emotion that had now been crushed under a great big cloud of despair.

Hope. Hope and a dash of elation. Really? Betty Suarez, who was so good and able that all her friends and family turned to her for support, who went out to help her friends and family when they were too stubborn to reach out themselves, had a crush on _him?! _A crush on Daniel Meade, irresponsible playboy who only got a leadership position on Mode because of his father's name, whose only asset were his eyes and jawline, both of which came again from his father? The elation swelled in him like a balloon, only this balloon felt very threatened and because of its fear of being popped kept itself small so that it might be hidden.

_We can work through this together;_ that was what he said. And he saw that smile of slight incredulity on her face before she got that oh-so-serious "oh no I _do_ have a crush on you indeed" face, and he felt that sickening crunching thud. But he could still allow himself hope, even as he said, "you're making fun of me;" but then it had all gone. All gone with that one phrase of hers.

_Daniel, I love you, but nooot like that._

Relief?

Maybe not, after all.

He was just grateful his devastation had not shown when she said, "oh look, there's the man I _do_ love."

Of course he had excused her. What could he say to keep her there?

* * *

Oh, it was just a crush. He could manage it. Hell, he could remember when he had a crush on Rachel Ripley back in college and never did anything about it because her boyfriend was That Other Guy, the other guy who was quite as popular as Daniel had been. Only in a different way, because That Other Guy had been big and brawny. Anyway. Not that it mattered. What mattered was, he had survived without ever getting that crush off his back. (Apart from when he did It with her that time after they drank too much at her best friend's party. And had a black eye to show off for it for weeks.) So there was absolutely no reason Betty should _ever_ have to know that pathetic Daniel Meade had a crush on her. Oh no.


	2. Such a pretty blue

**A complete _crush_.**

_A/N: This fic ignores all episodes that come after Burning Questions. _

_Disclaimer: Come on. Do I really need one? Oh fine, none of the characters/ familiar storylines are mine. _

_Thanks so much to those who reviewed! It is really, really encouraging. :)_

"Daniel!"

"Huh?"

Betty gave him one of her looks, the one that said _you look weird._ "Nothing. Except you've fallen asleep at work again."  
He sighed and messed his hair up. Maybe he could have an early night today, go home early and...do something. Well, he was dateless for sure, Renee being...he wasn't sure whether he really cared about her. He probably had, because it was love. She had actually been nice, and if it wasn't for her illness...

But if it was love he felt for Renee, what was this emotion that threatened to declare itself when he was with Betty?  
Just a _crush?  
_He laughed to himself.

"Er...Daniel," Betty said again.  
"Oh, sorry," he said. "Um. Well. Continue."  
She looked at him carefully before speaking. "I wasn't saying anything."  
He felt stupid. "Right."

He held her chocolatey gaze for a while, mouth falling open unconsciously, which caused genuine concern to enter those dark brown depths. He broke eye contact quickly.  
"Are you okay, Daniel?" Betty asked, sitting down on one of his couches.  
"Not really," he said. "Just kind of...a bit below average..." He gave one of his _I don't know_ shrugs, bringing his shoulders up and in.  
"You must be exhausted," she said, rising and walking about his office. "And really...disappointed. You could really use some rest, you know."  
He _hmm_ed noncomittally.  
"You know what? You should rest," Betty said. "In fact, good thing I didn't have the blinds taken out."

She began to draw the blinds again, and Daniel felt rather tense, but this time he merely lay back on the couch. God, he was exhausted. And besides, there wasn't a chance of Betty liking him. There was no hope, at all...

"Daniel?"

Her voice penetrated his dream world like that of an angel...

"Daniel!"

An angel with a very angry face, that was.

"You look..."

He stared groggily up at her from his position on the couch. He looked...? Beautiful? Handsome? Good enough to be her boyfriend? He smiled hopefully.

"...really strange," Betty finished. "I guess I'll just leave you." She left his office and shut the door.

Daniel groaned and shut his eyes. Never, never, ever, would she _ever_ - this was terrible. He would have to say something. And for the first time, he, Daniel Meade, shameless flirt, was scared to tell someone that he loved them.

Although wait...he hadn't exactly told anyone that he _loved_ them, really. So it was different.

He dozed off into an unpleasant dream, in which he declared his passionate love for Betty and she laughed and said, _You? Daniel Meade? Ha, ha, ha! I would NEVER love you!_ and he cried by himself in his burnt-down apartment, which in his dream he still lived in, eating out of a tin for supper -

"Daaaannnniiieel," Betty said, in a bored voice. She shook him by the shoulder. "Time to go home."

"_What?_" He sat up, looking about wildly, and indeed his office was shaded with the dark dusk of 6 p.m. "My _God_, Betty, you just let me _sleep_?"

"Yeah, well, you looked so peaceful I could hardly interrupt," she said, smiling.

He snorted. Him. Peaceful. With his tin of peas in that scarred, peeling apartment.

* * *

**Betty**

It was true. He looked peaceful, but if you looked _closely_, like me, you could see that melancholy. I hate how life is always so screwed up for him. How come he never gets the right girl? It's ironic, really. I'm supposed to be the ugly one, and I have two guys who could possibly be interested in me; Henry, and Gio. And Daniel - he's the handsome, rich, successful one - and the one girl he's met recently who could have been The One is mentally ill.

Sometimes I wonder if I should invite him home to dinner. It can't be very pleasant, dining by yourself. In fact, why shouldn't I start...tonight?

* * *

"Daniel, do you want to have dinner with me?"

His head snapped around to stare at her, hard. "What?"

Betty laughed and shook her head, realising what that must have sounded like. "Whoops, sorry, that came out wrong. I meant, dyou want to come home and, you know, eat with my family?"

Daniel's heart sank back down to rest in its little old tin, but he considered and it was really a very nice offer. So it wasn't a date she'd been talking about, but...he _was_ lonely...

"Won't it be inc-"

"Nonsense," Betty said, knowing what he would have said. She smiled at him.

"I would be delighted," Daniel said, sitting up straight on the lounger.

* * *

**Betty**

His eyes shine such a pretty blue when he's happy. Oh, God, did I just think that?

Well, it's true.


	3. The women wear

**A complete _crush_.**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters/ familiar storylines are mine._

_A/N: This fic ignores all episodes that come after Burning Questions. _

_Again, many thanks to the reviewers! You guys, abovetherim, didi6, JackSam, BennuBird, Owl Emporium, AndromedaAiken, vinhallen, chasing-heartbeats, abelard, Xira34, are my motivation. Seriously. :)_

_This chapter doesn't really have any Daniel thoughts in it, and not much Dettiness. Apologies. It's kind of setting the scene for the rest of the story. And remember to review - any thoughts on how this story might turn out? Thank you guys so much.  
_

* * *

"Are you sure your family won't mind me?" Daniel said, as they exited the Mode building.

"Positive," Betty said. She laughed at the worry on his face, but softly. He had such a fear of rejection, which was strange yet understandable at the same time. He was Daniel Meade, but he was also _Daniel_, her best friend, constantly stuck by the bad luck that seemed to find him alone.

Yes, her best friend. Because he had become that in recent weeks; she felt the closest emotionally to him outside of her family. It used to be Christina, but Daniel had changed; he _wasn't_ That Boy anymore, it was true.

She drifted back to the present, where Daniel was still looking concerned.

"Oh, come on," she said. "Look, I'll phone my dad if you're really that scared."

She smiled at him, smiled into those azure pools, saw herself smiling back, and dialled her home.

"Hello?"

"Hola, mija," Ignacio said. "Are you coming home soon?"

"Yes," Betty said. "And I'm bringing Daniel with me. It would be a _pleasure_ to have him over for dinner, wouldn't it?" She smiled over at Daniel.

"Oh, of course," her dad said. "You tell him he's welcome anytime."

"Thanks, Papi. See you later." Betty hung up. "You see? You're welcome any time."

Daniel did that smile where he kind of bowed his head slightly, nodded several times, his eyes thanking her.

But he wasn't without a family of his own, either.

"Daniel!" Alexis had just come out of the building. "Hello, Betty. Where are you guys off to, home?"

"Yeah, I'm actually having dinner with Betty," Daniel said, nodding at her.

Alexis was looked puzzled for a while, stunned almost, but smiled slowly and said, "That's great!"

"With my _family_," Betty said.

"Oh, I see," Alexis said, and she looked just a little bit disappointed; but it was hard to tell about what. "Well, that's great...I'll just head home, I guess."

"Oh," Betty said, exchanging a glance with Daniel. "Well-"

Perhaps Daniel wasn't the only lonely Meade.

"Children! Betty!" Claire emerged into the open air, throwing a scarf over her shoulder. "How lovely to see you all gathered here."

"Mom!" Daniel and Alexis said in unison.

"Well, it's certainly rare for us all to be together," Claire said, and Betty saw the brightness of pleasant surprise in her eyes. "How about we have dinner together? Providing you don't have any dates, of course."

She looked hopeful.

Daniel looked to Betty for help.

Betty rolled her eyes slightly at his helplessness and said, "Well, actually, Daniel and Alexis were going to have dinner with my family."

Alexis looked surprised, but happy. She and Daniel looked over at their mother.

Before Claire had a chance to look disappointed, Betty said, "Do you want to come too, Mrs. Meade?"

* * *

The seven of them sat around the sofa in the living room just a little awkwardly, although they were all mostly content. Apart from Justin, who was elated; the entire Meade family was in his house! _Would_ his friends be jealous.

Somehow, during dinner, they seemed to pair up almost naturally; Ignacio talking quietly with Claire, Hilda with Alexis. This left Betty and Daniel, and Justin, who seemed to like having Daniel over immensely, and constantly chattered to him about all things fashion.

"So what do you like most about your job?" Justin said, conversationally, as Betty ate and listened a bit amusedly. Daniel Meade forced into an uncle-like role was bizarre. But then again, he didn't seem to be doing that badly.

Until this.

"Well, the wom-" Daniel said, and he blanched, remembering who he was talking to.

He looked wildly to Betty for help again.

"The women wear," Betty said, helpfully, nodding to Justin. "You know, Daniel has a _great_ interest in dresses."

* * *

"The women wear," Justin scoffed, after they had seen the Meades off. "Yeah, right."

Betty smiled at Hilda, who had been told of the little slip of tongue.

"I guess he really likes them, huh," Justin said after a while, looking rather wistfully through the window.

Betty snapped her head around to stare at him so quickly something cracked in her neck. Still, she stared at him. Did he...did her nephew have a...on...a thing for...Daniel? Justin's orientation was clear, they were always telling him how they loved him _just the way he was_, but they had never really discussed it. It was kind of unspoken.

She looked up and met Hilda's stare, and without meaning to, laughed. it was a very, very bizarre situation.

"I don't get it," Justin said, before his mother and aunt had decided what to say, if anything. "He deserves better. Like you." He turned to look at Betty, and then went off into the kitchen to see what his abuelo was doing.

* * *

**Betty**

Okay, so Justin didn't have a thing for Daniel.

Now that he had said what he had said, though, it seemed to open the floodgates for Hilda, who seemed to have been wanting to say what she was currently saying for a long time.

"...you see, you're always there for him..."

But Justin didn't get it, did he? Betty was just an assistant.

"...helping him out of sticky situations..."

Okay, and a best friend, too.

"...listening, Betty? Hello?"

"Hi," Betty said. "Yes, I was listening. I think."

Hilda sighed, hand on her hip. "I'm just _saying_. It's been a long time coming, Betty."

"Daniel would never like me in that way," Betty said.

"Didn't you see how he acted around you tonight?"

"Er...normally?"

Hilda was speechless for a while, then; "Oh, fine," she said, grudgingly. "But I bet he was just trying not to look totally in love."

"It doesn't even matter if Daniel liked me, Henry is my boyfriend," Betty said, raising her eyebrows at her sister.

"Henry is _leaving_."

"Well then..."

"But then again, Gio might be in love with you..."

"Hilda!"

Hilda laughed. "Okay, fine, but trust me, _I_ think that these two men are both in love with you, and I cannot _wait_ to see what happens when Henry goes."

Betty looked apalled.


	4. Mr Meade

**A complete _crush_.**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters/ familiar storylines are mine._

_A/N: This fic ignores all episodes that come after Burning Questions. Also, Wilhelmina's baby is ignored.  
_

_Again, many thanks to the reviewers! Please review - any thoughts on how this story might turn out? Thank you guys so much.  
_

* * *

"It's really happening," Betty said, clutching at Hilda's hands.

"Yes, Betty," Her sister said. "But you'll be alright. You knew what you were doing."

"But...he'll be gone tomorrow."

"Yes, he will."

Betty subsided into silence and Hilda clasped her into a hug.

"You'll be _fine_."

* * *

"So, Grubstick is gone," Amanda said as Daniel walked past her round receptionist desk.

"Mm hmm," he said, absently, whisking past and bringing a breeze of faint masculine aftershave with him.

About five metres away from the desk, he turned around and walked straight up to Amanda. "Wait. What?"

"That hot accountant is gone," she said, looking only mildly offended that he had ignored her the first time.

"Oh, God, yes," Daniel said. "Wow. I didn't think it would be so soon."

"Why are you smiling like that?" Amanda said, in her Amanda-esque way, eyebrows cocked.

"Like what?" Daniel said, looking like Mode had just been declared Best Magazine.

"Like you can finally have triple-chins now," Amanda said, smiling nastily and leaning forward, ready to gossip. How lovely to be able to tease Daniel about something. Surely he still remembered that _crush_ Gonzalez - or whatever - harboured for him.

Instead, she got a cold look from Daniel's uncharacterisically icy blues. "Don't call her that."

She felt thoroughly taken aback and stepped backwards, hands raised, an eyebrow cocked. "Okay. Relax, boss. You look _totally_ pissed off."

He swallowed hard, standing with his hands on his waist for a while, then turned and headed for his office.

* * *

**Daniel**

She looks so depressed. Now I realise fully how much Henry meant to her. But really; how come love makes her this way? It's true, I really thought and think that Betty has always had really good judgment. But when it came to Henry, she was just...stupid. There's no other word for it.

But it's hard to criticise her when she looks like that.

* * *

**Betty**

Henry is really and truly gone now. At least now that relationship is off for good. It's been too long, not knowing what would happen next, trying to keep a grasp of those last precious days. And now it's come. It's weird how when I know something will happen eventually I kind of hope that because I _know_ it has to happen...maybe it _won't_ happen, just to be perverse. But life doesn't work like that, it turns out.

* * *

"Hey," he said, softly, sitting down beside her desk and gently putting his hand on her shoulder.

They locked eyes for a while.

"If you want to go home, I understand," Daniel said.

"No," Betty said. "I want to work. It helps, to be with a friend." She managed a small smile.

Was it Daniel's imagination, or was there an impossibly small hesitation before _friend_ came out?

"You know I'm here for you," Daniel said. "I care about you."

Rather hesitantly, he leaned forwards and for once it was he who initiated the hug. He patted her on the back a bit, trying not to let a rush of curling riptides of love smother his attempts to be comforting. But the love he felt was biting, was leaping, a beating of wild teenage infatuation.

* * *

**Gio**

Egg salad's finally gone. Betty looks so heart-broken, bless her. Who is there for her now? With Christina troubled with Stuart, there probably isn't anyone available to...hang on. Isn't that the boss?

* * *

"Heeey, Betty," Gio said, standing with his arms wide. He nodded to Daniel.

As though saying _It's alright, I'm here to take care of Betty, you can stop pretending and go now_.

Daniel frowned, but he got up. "...Gio."

"Mr. Meade," Gio said, in that tone he used sometimes. Somehow it seemed like he was subtling insulting Daniel.

Betty looked at the two of them with an unreadable expression.

"You know," Daniel said, turning to Betty.

She half-smiled and nodded at him. "Thanks, Daniel."

With a look at Gio, Daniel turned and went into his office.

Silence hung in the air before Betty turned to Gio and said, half-flatly and half-nervously, "Gio."

"What's with the unfriendliness?" He said, and then cursed himself for attacking her. She was devastated. Egg salad had meant a lot to her. "Sorry."

"Yeah," Betty said, looking at her computer screen without really seeing.

"I know it's kinda early days," Gio said. "But would you possibly want to have dinner this week?"

Betty sighed. "Gio..."

"Friends," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Come on, Betty."

Friends, huh. What Hilda thought...

Maybe Hilda was completely wrong...

"Okay," Betty said, because Gio was still waiting for a response.

"Thursday okay?" He said, smiling at her in a _bravo, you chose right and you won't regret it_ way.

"Thursday," Betty said, and she couldn't help smiling back.

Then, as soon as Gio was gone, she felt extremely strange. Her boyfriend had left two nights ago. It was all very well to move on, but so _soon_? And did she even _like_ Gio?

_Friends_, she thought. _Friends_.

* * *

**Daniel**

What did the sandwich guy say to make her look so _happy_?

Oh, God, looks like competition.

* * *

Normally, Daniel would shy away from competition. Not because he wasn't confident he'd win, but rather because he was confident there were plenty of other, just as pretty girls for him to have.

But there was _no one like Betty_.

So be it, he thought, puffing out his chest unconsciously, at the exact moment that Betty walked in.

"Oh, er, Daniel," Betty said, staring at his strangely heroic stance in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.

He turned to smile broadly at her. "Betty." His eyes shone a knightly shade of blue, and his chin was ever-so-slightly raised.


	5. An appointment

**A complete _crush_.**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters/ familiar storylines are mine._

_A/N: This fic ignores all episodes that come after Burning Questions. Also, Wilhelmina's baby is ignored. __Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I can't wait to write about Daniel versus Gio - but it seems kinda hard to find a situation to...show their feelings clearly. I'm so sorry, this chapter doesn't have any DvG in it - I'm still - thinking. Yes, that's the word. Considering._

_I hope you find this chapter alright._

_.:irrelevant note: I just saw the promo for the season finale. I'm _really_ hoping that kid is Alexis'. And yes, I loved that butt-slap scene in The Kids Are Alright. D:._

* * *

Thursday was hectic.

"I _know_ it's hard to find those this time of the year," Betty was saying into the phone. "But we _really_ need it, can't you just please try -"

She pulled the phone away from her ear, stared at it, and flipped it shut. "They hung up."

Daniel sighed, rubbing his temples, his hair thoroughly messed up. He settled his gaze on Betty as he massaged his aching head.

She could feel his eyes on her, and looked up, puzzled, to meet his look. Hilda had been joking, right? Because, yes, well, Gio _had_ asked her for dinner, but it was as _friends_. And surely Daniel wanted nothing at all like a...relationship. Because he had looked so stricken when he had spoken to her about having a crush on _him_.

Betty smiled to herself. Now it was rumour the other way. Daniel Meade had a crush on his assistant.

* * *

**Daniel**

I have a crush on my assistant. I can feel it in every glance that I give to her. I can't help it. Looking at her smiling, now, and - if I stay there any longer surely she will see it in my eyes. It's...terrifying, actually. I think I held it in pretty well over at her place, but Hilda - well, Hilda was still just _looking_ at me. Like she was waiting for me to slip up, or something.

The thing was, I couldn't decide whether I should tell all - scary, yes - or just wait. You know? There's no reason Betty should EVER know. EVER, because, well, it's just...just...laughable. But Gio made up my mind for me.

What does he think I am? Just some boss, patting his assistant on the back a bit?

Well, I sort of did.

But still. I was _not_ just some boss. I _am_ not. I am her best friend.

I hope.

You see, to show how non-bossy I am, I'll...take Betty out for dinner. Yes. I don't have a great cook in my family, but surely I can find a great restaurant. The only thing is, she might think it's a date. Which I'm hoping it is.

But. She'll _know_. And she can't ever know...

Wait, she _can_ know now, because I'm going to tell her everything. I can't keep waiting to get her in between boyfriends; the first mousy guy I've forgotten the name of now, then Henry, and now maybe the sandwich guy.

* * *

"Betty?"

"Yes, Daniel?"

He stood in front of her desk looking a bit edgy, messing his hair nervously.

Betty met his eyes, and wondered what that strange expression was. He looked like when he had been telling her about Renee, how he _really _liked her. Except she thought he had finally managed to let go of the topic.

Daniel thought it was very unfair how some people were so gifted with asking people out, or just inviting them to something. Betty hadn't batted an eye when she issued her invitation.

But maybe that was because she had no feelings at all for..._no, stop it_, he thought. _Just ask._

"D'you want to have dinner tonight?" He said, casually. _Please, please, please say yes. You would make my day. No, my life. It's cheesy, yes, but please..._

Betty opened her mouth.

* * *

**Betty**

Do I want to have dinner tonight?

Oh my God! Hilda was _right_? I mean, I - seriously. Daniel -

Well, _friends_ with Gio, and Daniel - surely _friends_ with Daniel too. Surely they are both just trying to help me through my difficult, heart-broken time.

I really wonder, though. Were they both just waiting for Henry to go?

Okay, that was very, very arrogant of me. Don't forget who I was before I came to Mode, Betty Suarez. Remember who these people are, Daniel my boss and best friend, Gio my...fake boyfriend. I mean, Gio my friend.

Do I want to have dinner tonight? Oh, my God.

* * *

"I would love to - but I already have an appointment," she said, looking desperately sorry.

Daniel's heart rose and fell. It was absurd how unstable just being around Betty made him. "Ah." An appointment.

"With a boy," Betty said, somehow feeling the need to explain. "But not a date, no."

At least she didn't think it was a date.

"A boy?" a slight questioning lilt to the two words, head cocked slightly, Daniel waited.

"Gio."

_That's it. This is war,_ Daniel thought. _Gio may have an advantage now, but I will not let him win. I work with Betty so closely; she is my assistant - I -_

Betty felt absolutely stricken at the expression on Daniel's face, those turbulent twists of emotion in the twin darts of blue. He looked lost.

* * *

"Gio," Betty said, softly, closing the door of the shop behind her. "I'm sorry. I don't think I can do this."  
Gio looked at her, sighed. "Betty, look. Forget Henry. I'll help you, I promise -"  
"It's not about Henry," she said in a small voice.  
Gio looked pale, stricken, vulnerable all of a sudden. "Someone else?"  
There was a long pause.  
"No," Betty said, eventually. "No. I don't know. It's just - just _me_."  
"There's someone else," Gio said, slowly. "Who is it?"  
Betty sighed and walked over to the counter, sitting down, her legs dangling in the air from the too-high stool. "I don't...it's confusing. I don't really think - just _maybe _- it's probably nothing -"

Still, Gio waited for the name.  
Finally, Betty looked up, meeting his dark gaze, and said, "Daniel."

* * *

**Betty**

There. I said it.

It's out now, and it still seems absurd. I mean, Hilda and Justin all think that - but it _is_ absurd, now that I look at it, look at how Gio heard it. Daniel is my boss.

* * *

Gio felt very, very bad. There was just no other word for it. Or maybe there was, but he wasn't good enough at vocabulary to know the right, slippery adjective for the emotion he could feel coiled up in his chest.

The worst part about it had been that tone in Betty's voice - that slight resignation, almost. It looked like she had trouble believing it herself at first, but then - that resignation! Like she was finally seeing that it was, in fact, Daniel - like it was something she had been unconsciously thinking for a long time.

Betty Suarez and Daniel Meade?

Gio laughed to himself, a slight edge of hysterics tinging the sound._ I'm sorry, but that's just...Not Gonna Happen._

Seeing that Gio was not going to say anything, was just going to sit there and brood, Betty got off the stool and walked to the door, looking back at him one last time before pushing out into the cold, walking the steps, tracing her way back to Mode, and Daniel.


	6. Those eyes

**A complete _crush_.**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters/ familiar storylines are mine._

_A/N: This fic ignores all episodes that come after Burning Questions. Also, Wilhelmina's baby is ignored. __Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! _

* * *

"Betty?"

Daniel stopped, one step out of his office. One hand behind him held the door knob, the other crooked in front of his chest, jacket was draped over his arm.

"I thought you were...but you're not," he said, haltingly.

Her eyes regarded him, the pools of chocolatey colour he imagined himself gazing into without fear of being discovered.

"No, I'm not."

He seemed emboldened by a certain quality of her voice, a certain sure firmness that was all Betty Suarez, and he shut the door, taking another step forward. "No." He seemed nervous. His tongue flicked out once, trying to wet his dry lips.

"You should try and get over Henry, you know," he said, somehow moving closer to her despite an inexplicable awkwardness at seeing his assistant walk into the office. "There's no harm in having dinner with a...friend."

"I know," Betty said, quietly, stepping towards him.

Daniel had been trying to find out what Betty felt towards Gio, whether it was friendship or love, but instead his statement had become an invitation, and he wasn't unhappy about that at all. It was a simple way into re-offering his company - or re-begging hers.

"No harm at all," he said, and for no apparent reason he was whispering. Maybe it was because Betty was so close to him, the distance so small he instinctively felt there was no need for volume.

Then something snapped in the environment, both literally and emotionally; some noise from the corridor, and Betty suddenly seemed to awaken from some vague veil of confusion. "Let's get dinner," she said, in her practical-assistant voice.

Daniel wasn't sure he minded. Smiling, he offered his arm to her as he had after the Get Real Fashion show, recalling the rush of inexplicable gallantry he had felt. He had changed for better in a _big_ way, he had benefitted someone, helped them achieve something important to them that day.

Tonight, he just felt happy.

* * *

**Betty**

Walking down the darkened corridor of Mode arm in arm with Daniel was oddly comforting and - right. It felt right, like it had felt after the fashion show with real models. There is so much to appreciate about the situation, though it seems simple at first. Just an assistant and her boss, just best friends, arms linked. But if you're that assistant, if Daniel Meade is that boss, there is so much more you notice.

You notice the crisp whiteness of the boss's shirt, how soft the fabric of his sleeve is, the warmth of his arm strong against yours. You see that familiar smile on his face, only it's not quite the same, but you can't really place the difference. There's something in his eyes that tells you everything, and you know that somehow only you can see it. There are things he can tell you without words that words would only complicate that much more.

Daniel is telling me he loves me. That much I can tell from his eyes, those pretty blue shiny things. It's silly and shallow maybe to fall for someone because of their eyes, the true azure quality of them; then again, it's cliched to fall for someone because you can see their true souls through those clear, clear windows.

But have I fallen for Daniel? Why is my brain so longwinded? Why can't i just ask it a question and get 'yes' or 'no' back? Why, _why_, does it _always_ have to be 'maybe so'?

There is definitely _something_ I feel for him, something real and loving, but is it natural attachment after working together so closely for so long, or...or something else?

* * *

**Daniel**

I feel so much love for the woman - girl - woman - on my arm I feel like it is a miracle it is not seeping out of my every pore.

Is this what love does to people? Turn them first into a soppy, gushing, dreaming teenager, and then into an Old-English-speaking bard? Get a grip, Daniel. You're still editor-in-chief of Mode, even if you are in love with Betty Suarez.

I feel like recently there _has_ been something between us. More...conflicting...implications.

Like our discussion about the pissing contest. Honestly, I don't know what made me...explain that I have the...yeah.

Because I _do_ have better aim.

Well, literally, at least. In the magazine world, Alexis is way up ahead of me.

* * *

**Gio**

Mr. Daniel Meade does not deserve Betty Suarez.

Otherwise, this world is impossibly unfair.

Mr. Daniel Meade could not possibly mess around with thousands of women, and then still, end up with _a perfect love_.

That is simply...injustice.

What does he have in common at all with Betty? _I_ understand her.

Oh, please. Don't give me that 'opposites attract' crap.

Surely, I can be The Guy for Betty.

* * *

Gio Rossi watched in disbelief as the loving pair walk past his shop window, smiling into each other's eyes. _Spare a thought_, he found himself begging Betty silently through the glass pane.

He knew if she did not turn back now, he would just let go. Because then it would be clear; she would have absolutely rejected him and firmly established that she had no interest whatsoever in his being her Guy.

He gazed darkly at the pair, at Daniel. At his expensive suit, his effortlessly ex-playboy handsome charm. Was it true? Money did buy everything, perhaps, just not directly.

She turned.

Just the briefest look back. The slightest meeting of eyes, that fleeting moment of re-attachment, before she turned away so quickly it really was like it never happened. And Daniel had not noticed at all.

But she had turned.

* * *

Dinner was surprisingly not tense. They were relaxed, and it was clear that tonight, for once at least, it was _friends _together.

They walked into the bar where Daniel had met Renee at Henry's band's gig, and stood near the entrance for a while, looking at the scene. Of course, the people were all different, the overweight tattooed guys not at their seat from that night.

They looked at each other and Betty smiled encouragingly at Daniel, who returned a smile of both gratitude and encouragement - for her.

And walking over to the bar, they sat down at the counter. But here it was going to have to be made clear; no more muddles, no more friends-then-lovers-then-friends confusion. A large banner declaring _Couples' Night_ hung over the dance floor, briefly reminding Betty of the bowling alley with Henry.

But it was not Henry beside her now, it was Daniel, who looked unbearably awkward and hesitant.

And for no reason at all, Betty found herself recalling Gio, standing in the darkness of Gio's Sandwiches, his eyes finding hers for that split-second, the waiting she saw.

Daniel opened his mouth, and there was an inexplicable flash of colour before Betty's eyes, and then Gio was standing there. "Hi," he said, with a strange smile.

Daniel closed his mouth and stared from Gio to Betty and back again.

Betty stared at Gio for a while, and then said, "Did - did you follow us?"

There was a pause, during which Daniel and Gio eyed each other, and there was a rising sense of animosity.

"Come dance, Betty," Gio said, turning to her.

Daniel looked a bit pale - something child-like and boyish in his countenance - and then he regained his composure it seemed and rose from his seat, turning also to Betty, not speaking but looking at her with those eyes.

Betty stared back at the two of them.

"You know you want to," Gio said, and there was an almost dangerous teasing tone in his voice; Daniel inhaled and looked at her with those pleading, _pleading _eyes -

"You guys are pathetic," Betty said, suddenly, surprising even herself. She was growing incensed, wasn't even sure why. Then her brain took care of that and explained for her. "What do you think I am? Some kind of - of pet? You think you can play the game of _call the dog_, or something, see who I go to?"

There was a stunned silence, and Daniel tried, "No - no, Betty -"

But she was furious, still not sure why, but furious all the same; got off from her stool, grabbed her bag, stormed out of the place. And turned just once at the door.

A big mistake.

Those pair of eyes lingered in her mind all night, the hurt in them.

* * *

When the door had shut behind Betty for what seemed a long time, Daniel turned to face Gio. "What the _hell_ did you think you were doing?" His face was pale again, pale this time with anger. His voice shook slightly; he had never been that great and controlling his emotions. "What the f-"

"Don't blame me, man," Gio said, narrowing his eyes at the man he felt such a viper-like mix of jealousy and hatred for. "Who do you think has been confusing her so goddamn much - stringing her along?"

Daniel was truly mad now; that stereotypical but inevitable red mist descended, and all his fevered eyes could see was Gio, standing in front of him. "Why y- I have not been_ stringing her along_," he hissed. "I love her. I _love_ her. Did you hear me?"

Gio was smiling queerly now, and he seemed to have a _so-hit-me stance_. "Oh yeah? You _love_ her, do you? How many other women have you said that about? Well I got news for you, Mr. _Meade_. I lo-"

_So Daniel did_. Hit him, that was. He knew he shouldn't have done it, but it was much too late, and he had. Oh, God, he was a mess. The utter lack of control had plagued him throughout his life, much as he didn't want to admit it to anyone else. And when he was angry - he was rarely that vein-poppingly mad, but when he was -

But now Gio had swung back, and caught him cleanly in the eye. He stumbled backwards into the counter; that red haze had gone as quickly as it had come, and suddenly he felt scared and small and frightened that he had attacked someone. Not only had he punched them, he'd punched them in public, and - oh, God - the bartender was approaching them now, looking alarmed. Oh, God, Betty would be so disappointed with him. So beyond disappointed.

* * *

_A/N: sorry if that was a bit angsty for people. I'll try and make the next ones lighter and funnier...unless you object? I hope you liked this chapter._


	7. Pretty boy Sandwich guy

**A complete _crush_.**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters/ familiar storylines are mine._

_A/N: __Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I love seeing how you respond to my ideas :D. I hope you enjoy the story. And noooo! It's Daniel's kid! Ok, fine, I guess I'll adapt to that change in time._

* * *

Those eyes lingered in her mind all night, the hurt in them.

She shifted again in her bed, staring at her graduation photo. Betty Suarez.

Lying there, just thinking her name for a while, over and over, all the thoughts and memories of her life surfacing momentarily in her mind.

Somehow she fell asleep.

* * *

"_Somebody's_ grumpy!" Amanda called after Betty, who had stalked past the receptionist desk without so much as acknowledging today's slight to her outfit.

Betty walked to her desk, swung her bag down, and pushed into Daniel's office, where he sat reading something, head propped up on his right hand.

"Morning," he said, not looking at her.

Without a word, she deposited the bagel and coffee onto his table and turned to leave. Daniel started to shift his arm; she turned back, and he stopped, quickly reverting to his original position. Folding her arms, she stood squarely in front of his desk and waited for him to look up.

"I'm not leaving," she said, like she'd done when he'd rigged the scales for the fashion show.

Slowly, Daniel looked up, his right hand still covering most of the right side of his face. "Hi, Betty." He tried his most charming smile, but she just looked at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, morosely, looking down again. "I just..."

What time better was there to confront all those unspoken emotions, to find out for real what they felt towards each other? But then again, there was that little problem he had to hide from her. He would _not_ be looked at with that classic Betty disappointment. But he had to be honest, but - really, he didn't want to cause that -

He couldn't bear not knowing, couldn't bear having to pretend that they were just normal Betty and Daniel. But he didn't have to courage to ask or tell all just now.

"I'm just really sor-"

"We need to talk," Betty said, sighing, sitting down on one of the sofa stools in his office, patting the lounger beside it.

Daniel froze awkwardly at his table. How was he going to get there with his hand pressed to his face? That would be way too suspicious.

* * *

**Betty**

Betty watched incredulously as Daniel kind of side stepped to the lounger, his face turned away from her.

"Daniel...what are you doing?"

Had he been _fighting_? That was impossible, right? Daniel Meade surely wouldn't go around punching people. And Gio...well, Gio...but...she wasn't even sure if they both...okay, so she did know now, most probably, that they both loved her in a way that was not just _friends_.

Daniel groaned as he sat down facing her on the lounger, and finally let his hand drop to his lap.

Betty's mouth rather fell open. She'd never seen a more perfect black eye in her life, not even in those soaps her father loved to watch. The angry bruise stood out strongly against Daniel's pale skin.

"Gio?" she said, sounding all chokey in a most un-Betty-like way. She rushed out of the room in a gust of colourful clothes. Maybe they didn't need to talk right now.

* * *

**Daniel**

Well, what is there to do now?

I know that Gio isn't good enough for her. Heck, I'm not sure I'm good enough for her, but I _love_ her -

Gio says he loves her too. Who does Betty love? In the end, even how could I ever beat Gio if she loves him?

* * *

Gio looked up and scowled at the sight of Daniel Meade walking into the sandwich shop. He noticed he still had a pretty nasty looking eye. _Not so charming now, are they, those baby blues_?

Then he felt rather bad because after all, he'd punched him way harder than he'd needed to. But still; Daniel had attacked him first. A guy needed to defend himself. Himself and the right to love the girl he wanted.

Betty.

Daniel stood in front of the counter facing Gio, folding his arms across his chest. Gio noticed sourly how his shirt pulled nicely across his shoulders, defining the muscles he no doubt spent hours training. _Pretty-boy, _he thought disdainfully.

"Look, about Betty," Daniel started.

"Yes, the girl I love," Gio said, watching his eyes.

Daniel's jaw tightened. "Why can't you just back off?"

"Because I love her," Gio said, looking at him quizzically. "You understand, don't you, Mr. Meade?"

Daniel grit his teeth. That name again. "Sure, Mr...Mr..."

Crap! Crap, crap, crap. That humiliation he was so used to he felt again. "Gio," he completed, lamely.

There was a silence in the shop, Gio smiling not nicely, letting Daniel's mortification hang in the air.

Meanwhile, trying to escape his utter shame, Daniel considered Gio's words. He loved her. This was a dead end. They both loved Betty. She would hate their competing - she'd rather just think it through. He should just talk to her, not -

Ah, hell. Who cared. Bring it on, Gio!

"Yes, I do understand, Gio. And what do you think we should do about it? Because I love her too." He smiled at Gio with unsettling confidence.

Gio smiled back. "Why would I tell you what I'd do?"

Daniel scowled and left the shop.

* * *

"Hi, Betty," he said, coming up behind her and leaning down to peck her on the cheek with his hands on her shoulders. His hands felt unbelievably warm even through the fabric of her shirt. She could smell his aftershave. Then the pleasant warmth left as he smiled at her, backing into his office, sitting down at his desk.

And he swore at the sight of a handful of Mode workers goggling at him through the glass. He'd forgotten to glue his hand to his right eye. And now the entire office was abuzz, wondering why, exactly, Daniel Meade had been fighting someone.

_

* * *

_It must have been a slow news day, because Fashion TV turned up outside the building as he left, the host saying to him eagerly, "Why were you fighting, Mr. Meade?"

Daniel looked nervously to Betty, who stood by his side with a stack of files and folders - ever the good assistant - and quickly looked away before meeting her eyes, for fear he'd smile stupidly in pure love in front of the camera, or something. "I, uh, I tripped," he said unthinkingly to the microphone shoved before his face.

Suzuki paused, raising an eyebrow dramatically, turning to face the camera and doing what Gio had done - let Daniel's awkwardness drag out painfully.

Betty reached out and grabbed the guy's wrist, pulling the mike closer to her, and said, "Yeah, he fell over the newest Prada collection. It was pretty nasty, actually, and really unfortunate."

This managed to yank the attention swiftly away from Daniel's black eye to the newest Prada collection, which was all the buzz at the moment. Betty grabbed Daniel's wrist and tugged him away from the camera guys.

When they were a safe distance away, she stopped, glaring at him furiously. "You _tripped_."

Daniel nodded. "Listen, Betty, dyou want to have dinner? We could talk then."

She stared at him for a while. Then, "No, thanks, Daniel. I promised Gio already."

His mouth felt incredibly dry. Her tone was hard, no-nonsense, don't-be-a-child, and she looked firmly into his eyes as she spoke.

"Okay," he said. "Right. Okay."

And he headed home.

He hadn't thought about that tin for a long time.


	8. Round Sickle

**A complete _crush_.**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters/ familiar storylines are mine._

_A/N: Reviews are 100 percent pure joy. Thanks so much for the great encouragement, namedone! :D Thanks so much to everyone for their praise and thoughts.  
_

_Sedimentation is a natural phenomenon. Please shake thoroughly before use._

* * *

Christina sat open-mouthed across from Betty at the small coffee table.

For once, the seamstress was simply dumbstruck. "Daniel and...Gio?" she croaked, finally.

Betty nodded, looking at the table. "Yeah. So...I _really_ don't know what to do," she said.

"You mean, who to choose?"

Betty nodded again.

"What d'you mean you dunno who to choose - it's hardly a competition -" Christina started to smile, then stopped at the seriousness of Betty's expression. "Oh, alright."

The two of them sat gloomily at the table for a while, and Christina said, "Well, I dunno - you see, Betty, I can't choose for you. It's just something you need to...know."

Betty groaned. "I know!" She brought her hands up desperately.

"So they're both in love with you so desperately they fought each other," Christina mused. "Betty, do you have _any_ idea...any inclination..."

Betty shook her head, and then shrugged. "I don't know. I...well, if I think about it - I don't know, sometimes it seems like Gio's closer to me, because we're the same type of people, from the same neighbourhood - the same class of society -"

She stopped and glared at the evident disappointment on Christina's face.

"Oh, God, sorry," Christina said, snapping into a wide-eyed expression. "Well. I guess I can understand that." She cleared her throat fakely.

"If you're going to be biased toward Daniel, then..." Betty sighed.

"Oh no no, you're not getting rid of me," Christina said, hurriedly, touching Betty's arm. "Okay, I get it. You feel closer to Gio, so - well, go for it! You can't keep them both dangling like this. And I mean, it was Gio you had dinner with today, right, not Daniel? So...he'll get the message."

Betty bit her lip, twisting uncomfortably in her chair. The conclusion was...was what she had been thinking. But it didn't feel right. "But I can't do that to Daniel! He'll be so hurt!"

"Daniel's a big boy, he can take care of himself," Christina said, rolling her eyes. "Look, don't get so eaten up by all this. You can just be _friends_ with Daniel, can't you?"

"Yeah," Betty said.

_Hope not_, Christina thought.

Because she really thought that Betty and Daniel would be _perfect_ together. It seemed really cheesy and soap-opera-y and too overly romantic, but really - what could be more perfect? The sensible, smart, witty, down-to-earth girl and the former-spoiled-playboy-who-has-been-converted.

Betty prodded the vacant smile off Christina's face.

"Okay, Betty! Jesus, what is wrong with you? Let's go someplace nice and you can think this all over."

They paid for Christina's coffee and left the cafe, walking down the street slowly in the cool night, pausing only for Christina to duck quickly in and out of the toilet.

* * *

The Round Sickle club was a mouthful, but it was a really great place to chill. One of Christina's favourites, in fact. It was a vaguely circular room, not too large yet not small, several tables surrounding a central sort of drinks area and a karaoke stage. The entire place was painted in several different calming shades of blue that still managed to radiate coolness.

Betty sighed and kicked back in the chair at the table she and Christina had left their bags on. There was a kind of ring that ran between the open karaoke area and the table section, and people mingled there, holding their drinks.

"Christina -"

"Eh?" the seamstress snapped her head around quickly to look at Betty. "Hi."

Betty frowned. Christina had been looking around almost frantically, all the while trying to appear nonchalant. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing," Christina said, airily, sipping more of her drink. "Just...scanning the crowds."

"Are you looking for someone?"

A vaguely guilty and panicky look began to dawn upon Christina's face. "No, of course not -"

"Is it Stuart?" Betty asked, looking worried. "Do you need to be with him?"

"No! No, Betty, I'm with you tonight," Christina said. "Really."

"Then who are you looking for?"

"Oh, he-I mean, what? I'm not looking for anyone." Christina knocked back the rest of her drink and stared at Betty. "Right. Well, let's get this sorted. So what are you going to do?"

"I feel like I should go with Gio, and I'll have a...talk...with Daniel...?" Betty looked away down at the carpet.

"Oh, Betty," Christina said, watching her sadly. "But you must."

"I must," Betty repeated, sighing. "I suppose."

"Don't worry, things will work out," Christina said. "It must be really confusing right now." Useless words, these, but she had to say something, right?

Betty nodded. "Thanks."

Christina shook her head, smiling slightly.

* * *

"Betty."

The sound of Daniel's voice, clear and amplified, issued from the speakers in the center of the room. She turned slowly, staring. He smiled at her from atop the stage.

"What is he doing here?" Betty asked, turning to meet the eyes of a very guilty looking Christina. Betty's mouth fell open. "_Christina_!"

"What, at least this way you can know," Christina protested. "Give him a chance, Betty. You always cared so much about him."

"I did no-"

"You were always obsessing over him; remember when you announced his name in that club?" Christina ignored a little stab of apprehension, remembering that night - that night she'd revealed her betrayal to Betty. "Well, he cares about you, too. Yes, I called him, Betty. He didn't have to come."

* * *

**Daniel**

I watch Christina talk to Betty, wondering what she is saying. Finally, Betty turns, looking right at me with those chocolate depths I feel such a connection to even across the heads of so many avidly staring people.

She walks slowly over, moving through the crowd. When she reaches the side of the stage, I let go of the microphone stand and step down onto the floor.

I need to speak to her and tell her, but I have no words. I know what I want to communicate. This is no crush; I am desperately in _love_ - with her. Take me, Betty, I am yours forever.

* * *

**Betty**

Daniel opened his mouth and issued a tiny little strangly noise.

And I smiled despite the twisty feelings I was feeling. I could feel the smile tugging the reluctant muscles of my face upwards. How utterly helplessly sweet and awkward Daniel can be sometimes.

* * *

Daniel's mouth formed the beginning of the letter B, before Betty took him swiftly by the arm and began to pull him toward the exit of the club.

"Minor problem," she assured the crowd; some people were still watching. "I just need to, uh, brief him on...a situation."

The wake of night air broke against their lungs; Betty marched them down the street, then let go of his arm.

"B-"

"What were you thinking? You're still my _boss_, Daniel," Betty said.

"_Still_? What - what else am I?"

The silence was thick. "Oh, I don't know, Daniel. You tell me." Betty was tired; tired of thinking.

"Your...friend."

She nodded mutely. True.

"Your best friend."

She nodded again, slower this time.

"Your no-longer-secret admirer," Daniel said, in a quick rush, feeling absurdly unlike himself. Had he just proclaimed love for his assistant on bended knee? He glanced down to check. Yup.

He grinned up at her in the blissful release of verbal admission.

* * *

"Tell me what to do," Betty said, after a long, long silence.

"I can only tell you that I...that I -" he cleared his throat "-love you. Very much." He nodded.

* * *

**Betty**

Again, that reluctant grin spreads over my face. Why am I smiling? Is it just the inexplicable _rightness_ I feel in this moment?

* * *

The sudden, emotionless tone of Betty's mobile ended any further thoughts they might have shared.

"Betty," Gio said.

* * *

_A/N: Please share your thoughts on where this story is going. I'm sorry if Gio popping up was too predictable D:  
_


	9. Yuck!

**A complete _crush_.**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters/ familiar storylines are mine._

_A/N: My gratitude is boundless for the Reviewers! And thanks for your rant Historianc! I always enjoy reading what you thought :D_

* * *

For a thick, adhesive second Betty stood with the phone to her ear, unmoving, her eyes locked in Daniel's blue depths.

"Betty?"

"Hi."

Her voice sounded surprisingly normal. It was impossible to tell that her boss and best friend had just declared his love for her.

"Hey, I just wanted to..." As Gio spoke, Betty lost herself again in those blue eyes. Daniel watched her watching him, clearly not listening to whoever was on the phone. He smiled. She looked so...was beautiful the word? She was beautiful. So Betty.

"I'm sorry, I kind of have to go."

"Oh, okay-"

"'Bye;" and she flipped her phone shut.

Daniel was still smiling at her, and she felt a mad kind of happiness inside her. She was just so happy it was frustrating. Daniel loved her. He _loved_ her; she loved him.

* * *

**Betty**

Yes. I love him. This is absolutely certain. Every time he looks at me like that, I get this impossibly warm feeling. It used to be friendship, but now - it's a total cliche but it seems that glow has ripened, turned to a golden heat, so pleasant that I just cannot let go.

_Do you love Gio? That little nagging _thinking_ bit in my brain._

What does it matter? Daniel loves me. And I love Daniel.

_What about Gio?_

What about him? It doesn't matter.

_You'll have to tell him._

Yes, I will. So I will.

_He loves you so. He's not a player. He's not irresponsible._

Nonsense. Daniel is not a player.

_Ha, ha! Yeah right!_

No, really. He's not! He _was_, but now -

_Don't be so cocky, Betty. You can't just _change_ him, you know. Who do you think you are?_

He has changed.

_What proof do you have?_

I don't need it. I trust him -

_But you feel for Gio, too._

No, I don't.

_Don't you?_

I don't. Daniel -

_is a player -  
_

is not -

_is too!_

* * *

"Betty?"

Betty jumped and automatically took a step away from Daniel, who was standing before her. He flinched.

"Oh, Daniel," she said. "Can I just...think? I need to think...I..."

He nodded, slowly. "Betty...take your time. Just...know what I told you."

She nodded back and walked back toward the club, where Christina was standing just inside the entrance, holding their bags.

* * *

Daniel arrived early at the office, so early that he was practically the only one on his floor. Betty's desk was unoccupied, the computer screen strangely black. He needed distraction; he needed work.

He sat down in his chair and scooted forward to his desk.

His right ankle tingled; he frowned and reached down - something touched his leg and began to creep up, slowly.

"What the -?!" He shoved his desk, hard, sending his chair backwards until it hit the wall and stopped with a jolt. Under his desk was a grinning twenty-three year old.

"Hey, Daniel." A smirk.

"My God," Daniel said, standing up and offering her a hand. "Don't _do_ that, Alba."

Alba crawled out and stretched, pouting slightly. "It's Al." She pushed back her hair, a very dark brown. "I've been waiting for hours to do that."

"How did you get in here, _Alba_?" Daniel asked. The last thing he needed when he was so stressed out already was his annoyingly young and upbeat cousin.

"Oh, Alexis was here early," Alba said, tying a ponytail. "Relax. You look totally freaked out."

"Well, considering there _was_ a random person hiding under my desk at six thirty in the morning," Daniel said, dryly. He sat back down. "What brings you here?"

"Love," she said.

"Oh, really?"

"No, really. I'm just here for fun with my friends. Speaking of love, are you okay?" Her expression was completely serious now.

"I'm fine," Daniel said, thinking of Betty. "I think."

"You've moved on," Alba said, perching on his desk and surveying him with her piercing blue gaze.

Daniel flushed. "How did-"

"Can't explain, just do," she said, airily. "Who is it? And something serious, I hope."

"Oh, very," Daniel said, looking out of the window. "Very serious."

"Who?" Alba leaned forward eagerly.

"Somebody in this office." He paused. Heck, she was his cousin, and family, sooo... "Dinner if you get it right."

She laughed. "Great, that means I get to stay in the office to observe, right?"

Daniel groaned. "Just don't drive me nuts."

* * *

Betty had just spilled her guts to Christina in the Closet.

"Okay, Betty," Christina said, putting her hand over Betty's. "Let me tell you this. I can_not_ tell you how much Daniel has changed since you got here. He is not a playboy anymore."

"How can you be sure? I mean, he had Renee, yes, but after that -?"

"When he was with Renee, did he even look at other women?"

There was a short silence. "Well, yeah."

Christina rolled her eyes. "Apart from the models he's supposed to look at, Betty."

"No," Betty said, almost grudgingly. "I suppose not."

"So _go for it_!" Christina chivvied Betty out. "Get going, now!"

* * *

Alba, for a lack of things to do, sat flicking marbles over the floor of the office. It was funny how almost child-like she seemed, cross-legged on the floor.

A marble _pinged_ off the leg of a lamp and spun under Daniel's desk; Alba went after it.

"Stop acting like a kid," Daniel grumbled, his fallen pen rolling under the table as well. Seriously. Alba was twenty three.

"Oh, a Meade fountain pen," came Alba's voice from under the table. "Which Christmas is this from?"

"Three years ago, actually," Daniel said.

"Wow. How-"

"Just a little more," Daniel said, leaning back in his chair to observe her efforts to unscrew the tricky cap. "Yeah-"

"Daniel?"

He looked up from the desk, already stricken at the sound of her voice. What had she decided? Had she decided yet? Would it be him or Gio she had chosen? "Betty."

* * *

**Betty's POV**

"Just a little more - yeah -" Daniel was sat in his chair, leaned back, speaking to the space below the desk.

"Daniel?" She asked, uncertain.

He looked up, looking something between shocked and startled. There was a long pause, then: "Betty."

His chair squeaked slightly, inching back slowly as somebody eased out from under the table. The somebody stretched and grew tall into a model-beautiful girl, very young.

The girl handed a pen to Daniel, smiled at Betty, and looked expectantly at the rather frozen Editor-in-Chief. There was a pause; he looked up to her, to Betty, back to the girl, and said, "This is-"

* * *

**Daniel's POV**

He was suspended in some thick liquid, some dream state, waiting for Betty to say something. Alba was waiting for her introduction. Hmmm. Alba or Al? Trivial really. But he had to think about something. One introduced a stranger by full name, not nickname, yes?

"This is Alba."

Alba grinned, went up to Betty, sticking out her hand. "Hi Betty!"

Betty stared from Alba to Daniel, and turned and left the room swiftly.

* * *

"What?" Alba turned on Daniel after the door shut behind Betty. "_What_ was that about?"

He shook the last of that hazy feeling off. He didn't know what she'd decided. It seemed something had really gone wrong; but why - what -

"Was it _her_?" Alba said, presently, in a near-whisper. "Is it her? Your assistant? Betty?"

"Yes," Daniel said, knowing what she meant. He sounded almost angry. "What's wrong with that?"

"Absolutely nothing," Alba said. "Well, you have certainly grown in my eyes." She looked quite proud of him.

After a silence, Daniel said, "What happened?"

They turned to each other in a moment of dread. Had it been a film there would have been a deep-belly note playing, despair.

"Oh - God!" Daniel said, standing up; he kicked his chair aside and strode over to the window.

Meanwhile, ever the mature one, Alba said, "Yuck."

* * *

_A/N: D'you think my fake parody of the Pilot was lame? Or did you even get that it was supposed to be? o.o  
_


	10. I got you

**A complete _crush_.**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters/ familiar storylines are mine._

* * *

Alba stared at the floor, the innocent glass marble motionless, casting a light-dappled shadow.

But how could Betty - they were _cousins_ - did Alba _look_ like some woman who'd - how -?

But it had happened, and clearly Betty had got the absolute wrong idea. Though - though - what could Betty have thought, with Daniel's damned reputation?

Though it was true, Alba wasn't a little girl anymore. Time to grow up. How many people had said that to her so far? Far too many for her to be ignoring.

Screw this.

"I'm sorry," she said, abruptly, not looking at Daniel. "I'll go tell her."

She began to leave; then at the door, she asked, "Where?"

"I don't know," Daniel said, turning to face her after a pause. "Just - sit down, Alba. I'll tell her. It has to be me."

They locked eyes; Alba gave a tiny jerk of her head, a nod. "Right."

* * *

"Betty, what -"

"_Pen -_ what a lame _excuse_ -"

"Betty, what are you on about?" Christina finally broke through Betty's fragmented ranting.

Betty stared at the seamstress, wild-eyed, dragging a hand through her hair. "Daniel."

"How did it go?" Christina asked, watching the distraught Betty carefully.

"I went in, and - this _girl_ - came out from under his desk and - handed him this pen -"

Christina opened her mouth but did not say anything;

"And then he was like, after this long pause, "This is..."-"

"Betty - no," Christina said, shaking her head. "What do you think this is? Daniel wouldn't - I'm sure it was just a nasty situation -"

"And then he said, "This is Alba,"" Betty concluded, adjusting her glasses and sitting down hard on the sofa in the Closet.

Christina gave a tiny movement of her head.

"What?" Betty asked.

"Alba?" Christina said. "I don't know why, but I've heard that name before..."

Betty felt a strange gloopy dread trickle stickily into her stomach. So it couldn't have been an absurd situation. Christina had heard of Alba; an old girlfriend, probably...

Christina frowned, thinking. "Alba."

"An old girlfriend?" Betty said, would-be-casually, though of course she sounded anything but.

There was a silence, in which the dread expanded, spilling through the pores of Betty's body, seeping into every which organ, and then - then -

"Oh!" Christina cried. "By George, I've got it. Alba. _Alba._ Of course."

She grinned at Betty.

Thoroughly confused, Betty remained silent, staring at the seamstress.

"Her name," Christina announced gravely, "is Alba Meade."

There was a silence that rang with...with the air conditioning.

"Alba...Meade?" Betty echoed, in a slightly strangly voice.

"Yup," Christina said, looking extremely satisfied with herself. "Alba Meade, daughter of Bradford Meade's younger brother David, kid cousin of Daniel."

They sat.

* * *

"Betty!" Daniel burst into the room; Christina let out a strange little "eee!" sound and Betty stood up automatically.

Boss and assistant, best friends and would-be-lovers, stared at each other. (Christina surreptitiously melted out of the scene.) Daniel fidgeted, messed his hair up awkwardly, shifted slightly, then began, "What you saw - it was actually - you know Alba, she - wait, you don't know Alba."

He let out a long breath, then said, "Alba is my cousin from my father's side; she is twenty-three this year and I have known her as a slightly distant little sister for my entire life. And before you entered she'd been playing marbles, or something, on the floor, and then - went under the desk - it wasn't, wasn't - you know - what - you know." He was slowly turning red.

"No, I don't know," Betty said, wanting for some reason to torture him a bit, bite him, a strange gush of love;

Daniel's mouth worked, but nothing came out. "_Uh_ -"

Betty folded her arms, and tapped her foot once.

"_You know_," Daniel said, with a choked-up feebleness.

Then Betty crossed the room, calmly, expression unreadable; she could have been walking out the door. Instead, she stopped in front of the tongue-tied Daniel, smiled, and pulled him down into a hug.

"Nevermind," she whispered into his ear.

His arms crept around her waist and they stood; Daniel shut his eyes, braced himself.

"What was that?" he asked her, his voice barely above her previous volume. "What are we?"

She knew what he was asking.

Their eyes met, and she didn't need to tell him. He offered her his arm again, smiling a smile weak with relief, and love finally fully requited.

Betty knew she'd have to deal with Gio, but what did it matter? As she'd told herself before, Daniel loved her; she loved Daniel.

_I got you, babe_.

She smiled at the sweetness of that memory. Pure friendship then; now, a pure shimmering golden love.

_fin._

* * *

_A/N: Thank you so much to those who stuck with this story till the end. While this ending may seem a little abrupt, I felt it was time to wrap up the story - coming ever closer to that Detty-ever-after, interest diminishes. Maybe this is why in the real thing, they want to leave it _really_ late for the relationship - and meanwhile we can keep enjoying those little, awkward, electric moments._

_Any_ comments and thoughts - on this chapter or the whole story - _much _appreciated.

-loboscuro


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